Rumors holding that a morgue employee was involved in a salacious organ trafficking operation originated with a fake news article.

CLAIM

RATING

ORIGIN

On 27 September 2017, the “entertainment” web site WorldNewsDailyReport.compublished a false claim that the FBI had seized over 3,000 penises during a raid of a morgue employee’s home:

FBI agents made an astonishing discovery this morning while executing a search warrant at the residence of a Houston mortician: 3,178 embalmed human penises.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation suspected 54-year old Dave Murray, an employee of the Harris County Morgue, of being implicated in an organ trafficking network.

There is no truth to this story. World News Daily Report is a well-known purveyor of fake news that has a long history of publishing misinformation. The web site carries a disclaimer:

World News Daily Report assumes all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles and for the fictional nature of their content. All characters appearing in the articles in this website – even those based on real people – are entirely fictional and any resemblance between them and any person, living, dead or undead, is purely a miracle.

In addition to the dubious source of this rumor, the mugshot featured in this article does not show a 54-year-old named Dave Murray. This image, which has been featured in various “Outrageous Mugshot” galleries, actually shows a man named Eric Batcheller who was arrested in 2011 for violating his parole.

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